Jefferson County’s Freedom Rock being painted

FAIRFIELD — The large 17,000-pound boulder outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in Fairfield is being painted this week to honor local heroes.

The boulder is a “Freedom Rock,” part of a series of large rocks that artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II has been painting since 2013 when he started his Freedom Rock tour.

Sorensen’s goal was to paint a Freedom Rock honoring veterans and other heroic figures in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. The rock Sorensen is painting in Fairfield is the 97th in the series.

Each Freedom Rock is unique and profiles famous people from that county. Sorensen said he relies on a local committee from each county to research people or groups they’d like to include on the rock, and Sorensen supplements that with research of his own.

Jefferson County’s Freedom Rock includes an homage to the 34th Army Band and 224th Engineer Battalion, longtime staples in Fairfield. The main, flatter surface of the rock facing east includes a portrait of Major Mehitable E. Woods, a resident of Fairfield and a woman who played an essential role in supplying troops during the Civil War.

Sorensen said he read a book about Woods and was impressed with her life story and the role she played during the war. For her efforts, she was inducted into the Grand Army of the Republic (for Union veterans) and the American Legion.

Sorensen set up a tent over the rock to protect it from rain and began putting a primer coat on it Saturday. He expects to finish the Freedom Rock by the end of the week.

Lyle Maudlin, president of the Jefferson County Freedom Rock Committee, said the committee plans to make a few improvements to the area before holding any kind of ribbon-cutting ceremony. For instance, Maudlin said they want to do some landscaping and pour concrete around the rock. He said the group needs to raise a few thousand dollars to finish the project.

“I’ve visited the rock every day this week, and I think he’s doing an excellent job,” Maudlin said about Sorensen’s handiwork.

Sorensen painted his first Freedom Rock in 1999, a rock he repaints every year as a tribute to veterans. He said he started his Freedom Rock tour through Iowa in 2013 for three reasons: to thank veterans; to promote Iowa tourism and to feed his family.

Sorensen is planning a 100th rock to conclude his Iowa tour and is giving all the cities in the state that missed out on hosting a Freedom Rock a chance to purchase this one. His next goal after that is to put a Freedom Rock in all 50 states. Thus far, he’s done three in Minnesota, three in Missouri, one in Wisconsin and has one planned in Illinois.

Sorensen opened an art studio in 2008, and when he’s not painting Freedom Rocks, he’s busy painting murals both indoors and out. In 2018, he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives to represent District 20 covering Adair and Guthrie counties.